Brave Angel
by SerpentPoison
Summary: Hikari Anezaki can heal anyone she linked with, one of the few aspects of her quirk. But the healing comes with a price. She's willing to pay anything to keep her childhood friends, Izuku and Katsuki, safe. But can she let go of her insecurities to become the hero she was meant to be? KatsukiXOC
1. Prologue

**A/N: Should I be working on my HP story? Yes, yes I should. But I've been binge watching My Hero Academia and I just could not let this idea go. I had to write a fic in this world; seriously I was having dreams about it! So please be gentle, this is the first time I've written in the My Hero Academia Universe. Additionally, while I do aim to read the manga as soon as I can, I have not had the time and have only watched the anime so far (forgive me!). I love constructive criticism so please let me know how I can improve. And if you like the story please review! Truly, I'm so new to writing fanfiction in this anime that I want to know how I'm doing!**

**As a quick note, it does skip around time wise in the prologue here. Additionally, I tried really hard to not copy paste all the dialogue since that can be quite boring. Hopefully I did that well!**

**Without further ado, please enjoy the prologue of Brave Angel.**

* * *

"Hikari! Pay attention, dear.

"But Grandma, Izuku and Katsuki…"

"They can wait, dear. You need to learn everything I can teach you now that your quirk has manifested. I promise you can go play when we are done."

The four year old sighed wistfully and nodded, "Yes, Grandma."

Hikari paid attention to all of the lessons her grandmother gave her about her quirk, even though she could hear shouts and laughter from her friends outside. Whenever her attention wavered, the young child was always reminded about how complex her quirk was and how she had to stay focused. What if she needed it to save her friends one day? That always snapped her right back to attention.

Hikari Anezaki would do anything for Katsuki and Izuku.

* * *

"_Why are you being so mean Kacchan?"_

_Hikari had not arrived until after Bakugo had already left with his followers. She could hear his laughter in the distance. Shoving down disappointment in her friend, she knelt next to Midoriya._

"_Izuku, are you ok?" she asked, tentatively helping him sit up. She saw him wince and then the girl started to truly examine him._

_The burn was angry red in color and it brought tears to her friend's eyes._

"_Don't worry, Izuku. I'll take care of you," Hikari said with a smile. Grabbing his chin, she looked him directly in the eye. Midoriya felt woozy but it passed as quickly as it came._

"_We've linked, I hope that's ok Izuku."_

"_Linked? Richan, what do you mean?" Midoriya whimpered._

_She smiled, "Now I can heal you as long as I'm in range. It's my quirk."_

_Eyes shining, Midoriya nodded to his friend, "That's ok with me, Richan!"_

_The green haired boy sighed with relief, watching as the burn was healed. He looked up at his friend only for his eyes to fill with tears._

"_Richan, your arm!"_

* * *

That was the day that Izuku Midoriya learned everything about his friend's quirk. And then be promptly sworn to secrecy-though when they got older, she did relent and let him write an entry in his notebook about her.

Hikari Anezaki's quirk, Angel, was passed down from her grandmother and mother. She could heal anyone she chose to link with, though it came at a price. Essentially, Hikari removed the injury from someone and transferred it to herself. Then her massive regeneration ability healed her.

His friend made him swear to keep the way she healed a secret. Along with the other aspects of her quirk: angel wings and what she called reverse healing in opponents. Midoriya called it degeneration.

As far as everyone else knew, her quirk was healing and self regeneration. And she wanted it to stay that way for a long time.

"Did you chase another fight before class, Izuku?" Hikari teased, resting her cheek in her palm casually.

A blush sprang up on his cheeks, "Well it was so interesting! A new hero, Mount Lady, appeared and it was fascinating to…"

"Shut up, nerd," Bakugo caught Midoriya's ribs with an elbow as he walked by to his desk.

"Katsuki," Hikari started, a warning in her voice.

He scoffed, "I don't want to hear from useless extras this morning."

Hikari flinched, though she was pretty sure her gruff friend didn't notice. Midoriya certainly did. He put a hand on her shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile. He was so forgiving of everyone.

"You'll make a great hero, Izuku," she finally said with a wan smile.

The blush returned with a vengeance, resulting in a deep belly laugh from Hikari. She had no idea that Katsuki Bakugo was watching them from the corner of his eye and getting _very_ irritated.

As their teacher discussed high school, Hikari scowled. He had purposefully picked on Midoriya and called him out even though she had also applied to UA. Even their teacher was biased against the Quirkless.

"I applied too."

Bakugo's eyes snapped to her from where he was standing over Midoriya, hand smoldering on his shoulder. Red eyes narrowed, he growled, "Like you'll be any better than quirkless Deku here. Healing...what a useless quirk."

"There are more heroes than just ones that fight villains, Katsuki," she reminded him, "I'm sure healing is quite valuable in a rescue hero."

The look on Bakugo's face was unreadable as he grunted and walked to the door, "Whatever. And Deku, you know if you really wanna be a hero that badly, there might be another way. Just pray that you'll be born with a quirk in your next life...and take a swan dive off the roof of the building." He smirked at them.

The exchanged looks between Bakugo and Midoriya was the reason that Hikari was able to land a sound punch across the blonde's cheek. His cheek immediately bloomed into a purple bruise. Rounding on her, fists sparking, he paused. She had hit him so hard that it was quite clear that her hand was injured, though her regeneration quirk was quickly taking care of it from the silver lightning sparking across her skin. He really had pissed her off.

"Whatever. Let's go," Bakugo snapped to the other boys, leaving Midoriya and Hikari alone.

"Richan?" Midoriya said, only to scramble over to her, "Hey don't cry!"

"That was cruel of him, Izuku."

He gave her a weak smile, "But you still healed his cheek."

Hikari didn't answer right away. Tears flowed down the bruise that had appeared on her face, though it was slowly fading.

"He's still our friend," she finally said, "I had to. Even if he was being unnecessarily cruel. His pride blinds him." She looked over at Midoriya, wincing as she transferred the burn from his shoulder to hers. Burns were always particularly painful.

"Richan!" he complained immediately, "I was fine."

"I know," she answered with a smile, "I'm going home okay? More lessons from Grandma tonight. Be careful on your way home."

Midoriya waved as she left and shook his head, getting his bookbag together. Hikari had linked with both him and Kacchan when they were very young, so her awareness of their injuries and the range for healing them was incredible.

He blinked. He had better hurry home. Midoriya hated to cause undue pain and whenever he was hurt, Richan would always heal him.

"Oh! My notebook first!" he exclaimed aloud to himself before dashing out of the room.

* * *

"Izuku….Izuku's friend."

"Richan?!" Midoriya jumped, dropping the trash that he was carrying, "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to figure out what you've been doing for the past many months. You can't avoid me forever, Izuku."

"Richan, it's really nothing. I'm just helping to clean up the beach for a project," he said quickly, hand rubbing the back of his head.

He crossed his fingers behind his back. Midoriya never thought that his friend would seek him out and actually find him.

The silence made Toshinori shift nervously, drawing her attention.

"Is this the person you were asking about? With the five year old wound?"

The look on both of their faces was confirmation enough. Midoriya was sheepish though the man looked stunned more than anything else.

Hikari jumped off the pier to the beach next to Midoriya. Watching the man out of the corner of her eye, she gave most of her attention to her friend, "You'd think with all that we've been through, that you'd know you can't lie to me, Izuku."

Midoriya looked helplessly at All Might over her shoulder. Hikari sighed, "Let me look at your friend."

"Oh no, really that's not necessary," Toshinori stammered, hands placating, "Many experts have already helped me." The unspoken _what can a mere child do_ rang in the silence afterwards.

"I'll decide that. Let me see."

Sensing that this stubborn teen would not relent, he lifted his shirt. To her, at least, he was just another citizen. The hero was unprepared for the calculating look in her eyes. She got close, examining the wound with a scrutiny that made him nervous.

"I can't heal it completely; it's much too old of a wound for that."

Midoriya deflated slightly, shoulders slumping just ever so that Hikari noticed and scoffed, "I didn't say I couldn't do anything." She turned to Midoriya and considered him briefly, "This man is that important to you?"

He could hear the unasked question. Was it that important that she take this wound into herself to heal this man who was unknown to her?

"Please let me tell her."

Toshinori was startled to hear the desperation in Young Midoriya's voice. This was clearly one of his best friends. It would not do to keep such a thing from the only support that he had.

"Do you trust her? She can't tell anyone," he asked quietly, taking Midoriya away from her slightly. He was impressed with how she turned her back to them to give them some privacy.

"With my life."

With that resolute answer, All Might gave his blessing to tell Hikari Anezaki everything. And tell he did.

After everything was out in the open, she looked at the hero critically, "You're All Might. That explains a lot."

And maybe it did.

"I have to link with you to heal you via eye contact," she explained. When the hero nodded, she locked eyes with him for a mere second. The woozy feeling passed through him rather quickly. As soon as he was over it, Hikari nodded to Midoriya, "Hold me steady."

Midoriya trembled, "Okay, Richan."

Toshinori felt the effect immediately; he could breathe easier. A grunt drew his eyes to the girl. Blood was staining her shirt at a rather alarming rate.

"Are you okay, Richan?" Midoriya asked, voice tight with barely controlled panic.

"Shut up, Izuku," she grunted, eyes closed as silver lightning jumped across her skin.

Toshinori knelt next to them, "Young Midoriya. What is going on?"

"Richan heals by taking someone's wound and transferring it to herself. Then her regeneration heals her," he babbled out.

"Izuku," Hikari grit out angrily.

"I can't lie to All Might, Richan!"

The tense lines in her face eased slightly as her Quirk healed her. Finally she could sit up straight without her friend's help. Eyeing the Symbol of Peace, Hikari said, "Based on everything I know, you've probably been granted an extra thirty minutes to an hour in your empowered form. It was the best I can do with how old the wound is. You should feel better in your true form and have more stamina."

"Young Anezaki, you should not have done what you did," Toshinori whispered quietly, "But I thank you."

"You can do something to repay me."

Toshinori tensed but nodded hesitantly.

"I want you to come up with a training regimen like you gave Izuku. As if you were going to give me One for All. I need to get stronger to get into UA."

Inspired by her determination and honest request, Toshinori powered up to All Might, "Of course, Young Anezaki!"

* * *

**A/N: Of course she can't completely heal All Might, that would be ridiculously overpowered. I figured that Hikari simply healed it as best she could, considering the extensive damage and the age of the wound. It didn't do much except provide a level of comfort for him. Additionally, if you think that she seems a bit overpowered, I do apologize. She'll really struggle coming up, especially in training exercises so I hope you stick with it to see! :)**

**Please review! Let me know how I'm doing!**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Since I got two very kind reviews and it is a holiday, I decided to update for yall! Since I am updating today, there will be no update this Saturday. **

**I thought about this for a long time but decided that, in the narrative, I will be addressing everyone by their last name. It seems to flow better in my opinion. Even though Hikari is rather informal and calls many people by their first name if she views them as friends, I still feel like it causes a stutter when reading it in the narrative so that's why I chose how I did.**

**Also, I have Todoroki in this chapter at the exam. Even though he got in on recommendations, I feel like he would go to the exams just to spite his dad. So it is my personal view and obviously not canon but that's what that's what fanfiction is right? Creative license? Anyway! Onward! Enjoy :)**

* * *

Hikari tapped her fingers on the desk impatiently. Midoriya was running late to the entrance exam which means that All Might must have held him over talking. Stupid Symbol of Peace.

"Oi, why'd they seat me next to you."

She resisted the urge to slam her head into the desk. Of course Bakugo would be seated next to her because they came from the same school; she told him as much. He huffed at her but didn't bait further. While she was waiting, Hikari closed her eyes and checked Bakugo's health as she did for both of her friends rather frequently. She let out a small breath; he was fine.

"Richan! Kacchan!"

Midoriya glossed over the death glare from Bakugo and beamed at his other friend. As Midoriya sat down, Bakugo groaned. Why did he have to be put in the middle of these two extras?

All of the students fell silent as the presentation began.

"In other words, they don't want us to work with friends," Bakugo observed.

"Oh we're in different battle centers," Hikari muttered thoughtfully, resting her chin on Bakugo's shoulder to look at his card. She felt his muscles tense but he surprisingly didn't blow up at her.

"Hikari, get off of me," he finally growled, voice tight with anger.

"Sorry Katsuki," she chuckled and nuzzled his cheek with hers, like she used to when they were kids, before pulling away.

Hikari could sense his anger brewing, ignoring it in favor of listening to the rules for the practical exam.

Chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully, Hikari pondered the robots for the exam. There had to be a reason for the fourth robot that was worth no points, but what was it? She was so lost in thought that it took Bakugo slapping her shoulder rather painfully as he passed to pull her out of it.

"We're going to the battle centers, pay attention!" he snapped.

Seeing that he had left Midoriya muttering to himself in his seat, Hikari sighed and roused her friend. All while trying to figure out how she was going to take down robots with her quirk.

* * *

Hikari panted as the buzzer went off. She was fairly certain she did decently, even though she had stopped a few times to help some of her potential classmates.

"Hey."

She jumped, hand to her heart as whirled around to see the boy with red and white hair. The one with an ice quirk.

"Can I help you?" she gasped out, getting her breathing under control.

"Are you ok?" When she raised an eyebrow, he elaborated, "Your ears are bleeding."

"Oh! It's nothing!" she answered with a wave of her hand, trying to wipe the blood from her ears in the process.

"Are you sure? Because…" He was cut off when Hikari noticed the wound on his upper arm. Her brow furrowed, "You're injured. That's a nasty looking graze. Can I heal it?"

"Is that your quirk?"

"I wouldn't offer if I couldn't do it."

After a few moments of silence, he nodded, "Alright." She gazed directly into his eyes for a moment, causing the woozy effect. By the time he had recovered, the graze on his arm was gone.

"Impressive," he trailed off as he examined his arm critically, "Thank you. My name is Shoto Todoroki."

"Hikari Anezaki."

"Thank you then, Anezaki."

"You can call me Hikari."

Todoroki blinked in surprise. What an informal girl. Nevertheless, he gave her a nod, "Very well. Thank you, Hikari. Hopefully I'll see you in class."

* * *

Midoriya was a nervous wreck and, to be honest, a bit of a nightmare to be around while they waited for their results from the exam. He had told her what happened in his exam but to his surprise, Hikari was not as troubled as he was. No matter what she said to try to dissuade his fears, they continued to grow into a mountain of despair.

She was at home when there was pounding at her door.

"Hikari! Izuku is here!" Her grandmother called to her. The warning wasn't quite enough when Midoriya burst through her door less than a second later, causing her to jump.

"RICHAN I MADE IT INTO UA!"

"I told you there was nothing to worry about, Izuku," she gave him a small smile, rubbing her ears. They were still tender from the exam.

Midoriya noticed the motion, "What's wrong with your ears, Richan?"

"Oh it's nothing! You just startled me… and you were a bit loud," she scolded.

After spending a few minutes chatting- and apologizing on her friend's part, Midoriya asked, "What class are you in? I hope we're together!"

"Class 1A. What about…" Hikari's air supply was cut off when Midoriya grabbed her and hugged tightly. "Izuku...can't...breathe."

"Oh! Sorry Richan! I got excited. We're in the same class together!"

"That's great, Izuku."

Midoriya pressed his fingers together, "I hope that Kacchan is in a different class."

Resting her cheek in her palm, Hikari raised an eyebrow, "That's not very nice, Izuku."

Of course, Hikari knew that Bakugo made him nervous. But she would not dampen his hopes, even though she had talked to Bakugo earlier today. Well, she talked and he yelled, but Hikari learned that they would be in the same class together. Bakugo had been fuming about that. Boy will he be furious when Midoriya joined them.

"Richan? Are you okay?"

"Oh! Sorry Izuku! I was just thinking! Let's make sure we sit close to each other okay?"

"Yes!"

* * *

Hikari stepped into Class 1A alone, unsure of where Midoriya was. She was greeted rather quickly by Shoto Todoroki to her surprise.

"Good afternoon Hikari," he met her at the door, "I'm pleasantly surprised that we are in the same class."

"Thanks, I think," she answered with a chuckle that had Todoroki stammering to apologize. "I didn't mean…"

"Oh hush," she cut him off, "I know that's not what you meant. Not many people expected me to do well with my passive quirk. Right Katsuki? Don't you dare elbow me."

The sudden change in her attention made Todoroki jump slightly. He heard a rather rough voice answer Hikari from behind her, "Don't tell me what to do." Even with her order, he still elbowed her as he walked by her to his chosen seat, immediately putting his feet up.

"Alright then…" Todoroki trailed off, eyeing the blonde darkly.

"Don't worry about Katsuki," Hikari turned to him, "He's been like that for a while." Though she erase the sad smile quickly, the ice user still saw it for a fleeting second.

Seeking to change the subject for her, he asked, "How are your ears?"

"I told you it was nothing."

"Take your feet off that desk now!"

"Oh boy," Hikari sighed when the argument started. She turned to Todoroki, "I'd ask if you'd like to sit near each other but I see you already picked a seat and I can't sit that far in the back. Maybe we can meet afterwards to chat some more."

"That sounds good."

Todoroki watched her take a seat behind the blonde. He continued to watch after Tenya Iida went to greet someone else at the door. She put a hand on the blonde's shoulder only for him to shrug it off and snap something at her. The ice user raised an eyebrow. Despite the hostile attitude, the blonde had still calmed slightly at her touch. They must have been friends before UA.

When their teacher appeared, Hikari studied him as he spoke. He came off as apathetic. She was sure that he looked familiar but she could not put her finger on why.

"Put these on and head outside."

Examining the uniform, Hikari scowled. She hated tight fitting clothing when she couldn't wear anything over it. Following the girls to the locker rooms, she waved briefly at Midoriya before she lost sight of him. She listened and talked with the girls as she dressed. They had interesting quirks; to be honest she was a little jealous of some of the girls with offensive quirks. Walking out with the girl who made friends with Midoriya, Hikari tugged on the sleeves and hem of her uniform. It was so uncomfortable.

Todoroki greeted her quietly when they gathered in front of their homeroom teacher. She stood next to him and Bakugo, sending Midoriya a smile when she saw him. He was too distracted by their teacher to notice.

She listened intently to Aizawa. They would get to use their quirks in this core test. Not very useful for her but very useful for others. She would just have to try her best; all of the training with All Might and Midoriya would prove more important than her quirk here.

"Bakugo, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam," Aizawa turned to them, "What was your farthest distance throw with a softball when you were in junior high?"

"Sixty seven meters I think."

"Right, try doing it with your quirk. Anything goes, just stay in the circle."

Hikari watched as Bakugo strutted to the circle, grabbing the ball from their teacher as he passed. He stretched as he listened to his instructions. She knew what he was capable of but she was unprepared for the pain that ripped through her ears when he threw the softball with his quirk.

"Ah!"

She covered her ears and fell to a knee, despite Todoroki trying to catch her by the arm. He knelt down beside her as the others talked, "Are you okay?"

Trembling, Hikari nodded. The ice user noted the unshed tears in her eyes and tugged a hand away from her ear. Blood was seeping down her earlobe to her neck.

"You said your ears were fine."

"I said it was nothing," she corrected, "Truly. Please don't worry. They'll be ok in a minute."

Their teacher's voice cut through their conversation.

"Show me it's no mistake that you're here."

Todoroki gave her a look that told her they weren't finished with the conversation, but helped her up. She noticed Bakugo glaring at them. She furrowed her brow; what had she done? Not that her explosive friend needed a reason to glare at someone. She returned his glare with a bright smile; he always hated that.

Aizawa appeared next to her as they made their way to the first test, the 50 meter dash. He leaned down and examined her ears critically.

"Bakugo's explosion did that to your ears?" he asked quietly.

"My ears are still tender," she answered timidly.

"From?"

Avoiding his eyes, she replied, "The entrance exam. They'll get better soon. Ear injuries are just hard to regenerate quickly."

Aizawa stared down at her but accepted her answer, "Make sure you don't stand too close to him when he uses his quirk today."

"Yes sir."

Hikari worked hard during the tests. She was pleased with her 50 meter dash result: 5.7 seconds was much better than her junior high ranking. Todoroki had essentially skated on his ice next to her, beating her of course. It was so difficult to compete when she didn't have a more versatile quirk. The other tests had similar results; she was sitting in the middle of the pack for everything which was fine with her.

Sitting on the ground next to the standing Bakugo and Iida, Hikari watched Midoriya prepare for the ball toss. She could see the indecision on his face. Wincing when she saw the decision he made, she leapt up when their teacher's scarf came apart and danced around him.

"Oh no," she whispered, recognizing the goggles around his neck, "Eraser Head."

As the students discussed their teacher and his power, Hikari slowly sat back down and watched him talk to Midoriya. Her friend looked devastated.

"I've restored your quirk. Take your final throw."

Hikari barely had time to cover her ears when Midoriya split the sound barrier momentarily as he used the power of One for All to throw the ball. She sighed with relief. Nowhere near as bad as the explosion from Bakugo. Her ears only rang for a few seconds.

Todoroki stepped up next to her and looked down to her seated spot on the ground, "Your ears ok?"

"I swear, Shoto, if you ask me again we will no longer be on speaking terms."

He chuckled, turning his eyes back to the others, "I doubt that."

"Oh Katsuki, no," she sighed, watching her friend get caught in Aizawa's capture weapon. The look on her friend's face as he watched Midoriya alarmed her, causing Hikari to jump up and nearly break Todoroki's nose with her head in the process.

Worried, she jogged over to her blonde friend.

"Katsuki, are you okay?"

The look he gave her made her flinch and take a step back. With determination, she stepped back up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, ignoring the warning sparks coming from his hands.

"It's going to be alright Katsuki."

With the contact, she could look at his health more closely and could tell that his ears needed to be healed again. Bakugo never knew and she would never tell a soul, but the constant explosions he did, especially today when they were quite large, caused hearing damage and hearing loss. And she couldn't let that happen to her friend.

* * *

Without so much as a flinch, she healed her friend's ears at the end of the exam. Ears were so hard to heal with how intricate they were. She sighed. Midoriya said he would meet her outside but she could see him talking to Iida and Uraraka. Waiting patiently, she groaned when she realized her ears were bleeding again. At least she could clean them up before anyone…

"So."

"Fucking shit, Shoto," she cursed, eliciting raised eyebrows from the boy.

"Where did you learn such language?"

"Where the hell do you think?" she snapped, jerking her head to the passing explosive blonde as he headed home.

"Shut the fuck up, Hikari," he replied automatically, not even looking at them.

"Go to hell, Katsuki."

"Whatever."

As they watched Bakugo continue out of the gate, Todoroki turned to her, "We aren't done with our discussion from earlier. What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Shoto. I'm just not ready to share that yet. I hope we can still be friends."

With a tilt of his head, Todoroki nodded, "I suppose that's fine. We haven't known each other that long. I hope you will trust me eventually."

"I'm sure I will," she said with a smile, "I should probably head home. I'll see you tomorrow!"

With a wave, Hikari headed towards the gate, looking for Midoriya. She sighed. It looked like he walked home with Uraraka and Iida. A wave of loneliness crashed over her as she turned and made her way home. Her friend had never forgotten her before. Usually they walked home together behind Bakugo.

Said blonde was walking ahead of her. He glanced back at her and paused, letting her catch up to him.

"Where's Deku?"

Giving her friend a small smile, she shrugged, "I'm not sure. I'm sure I'll see him later."

"So you're walking home alone?"

"Well I guess right now, I'm walking home with you Katsuki."

"Whatever, Hikari."

Despite his carenot attitude, he didn't speed up and continued to walk with her until she made it home. Hikari bid him goodnight, earning another gruff answer, before he continued on to his house.

* * *

**A/N: Annnd chapter one is a wrap! What did you think? Please review! They make me happy :) and have a wonderful Thanksgiving if you celebrate it! **


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: I apologize for the delay! I got sick twice in a row with a nasty cold and then strep so I've been bedridden for a while. I've worked on this fic more but it totally slipped my mind to actually post an update. Oops! **

**Another note, if you're new here, welcome! If you are continuing reading, I want to point out that I have changed Hikari's family name to Anezaki instead of Madoka. Madoka was just too "first namey" for me and I just wasn't digging it. I actually pulled this last name from one of my least favorite characters in another anime/manga lol. But I think it works!**

**Please enjoy!**

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Hikari!" Midoriya was rambling, causing the girl to sigh, "I swear Izuku, if you apologize one more time, I'll tell Katsuki that you think his quirk is weak."

"You wouldn't!"

"Then stop apologizing!"

"Okay okay," he held his hands up, "Sor-I mean you're right!"

"That's what I thought."

They were in math class, waiting for class to start. Hikari hopped off of Midoriya's desk where she was sitting when Iida came in the room. The boy gave her a serious look but since she had already gotten up, he said nothing. She patted Midoriya on the head and went to her seat in the back next to Todoroki.

"I thought you didn't sit in the back."

Hikari gave him a sheepish look, "I usually don't but I am so bad at math that I don't sit next to Izuku so he can focus and teach me later."

"Bad at math? Well if you ever need help and Midoriya can't explain it, I can help you."

"Really?" she exclaimed, "Thank you! Math is my weakness. Usually if Izuku can't help me, I have to beg Katsuki and he hates teaching me."

"My skills are at your service."

They both laughed.

"Shut up! You extras are so annoying!"

Hikari rolled her eyes but quieted down since their teacher had arrived.

* * *

Midoriya looked at Hikari tentatively when All Might announced the training for the day. He knew that her weakness was real combat with people she didn't want to hurt. Her degeneration power was dangerous and she would never use it against her fellow classmates. Plus she didn't want anyone to know yet.

He knew how she felt. At least he could use his quirk on the environment around him. Hikari gave her friend a reassuring smile, guessing what he was thinking. She gave a jerk of the head, implying that he should pay more attention to All Might.

Midoriya nodded.

Hikari sighed, earning a brief glare from Katskui in front of her. Midoriya was right to worry. She would just have to hope that she was paired up well with someone.

"Get yourself suited up and meet me at Training Ground Beta!"

Rising from her seat, she grabbed the case with her number on it. The thought of her suit made her nervous, but hopefully the design team did well with her idea. Mina Ashido walked with her, talking excitedly about her costume. The locker room was full of chatter as the girls changed. Hikari stared at Ashido's costume. The odd camo colors hurt her eyes.

Turning away, Hikari examined her own costume. It was pretty close to what she wanted. She took the starch white bandages out first. Taking her shirt off, Hikari wrapped the bandages tightly around her arms from wrist to shoulder quickly. Her body was a litany of scars from healings. Regeneration wasn't perfect but it saved people and that's what mattered. But she still didn't want anyone to see the scars.

She shimmied into the white combat pants. They stuck to her skin tightly, but she pulled the metal guard over her waist. It had cloth attached to it to imitate traditional samurai armor. It gave her the coverage she felt comfortable with but with the mobility she needed. Her shirt was a tight white muscle shirt with two large slits in the back for her wings if she ever decided to use them; with it and the bandages her arms were completely covered. Over it went the steel shoulder guards. Her look was complete with white, steel toed combat boots and steel arm guards.

The girl then took the time to pull her black hair high into a messy bun.

Finally, she attached her weapons. She wouldn't use them against her classmates but they were part of her costume. Hikari could only degenerate existing wounds, so she had to train very hard on All Might's regimen to improve her combat skills. The short sword got strapped to her back while the long sword attached to her hip. An assortment of knives went into pockets and sheaths located in a variety of locations on her body.

"Wow! Your costume is badass! White is a pretty bold color to wear in combat. It really makes your blue eyes pop though."

"Thank you, Yaoyorozu. Yours is pretty amazing as well."

"That's an impressive assortment of weapons. And call me Momo. We're comrades!"

Hikari chuckled, "Alright Momo. Well, I need them."

"I do suppose your quirk is more utility. I can see why you need some way to do damage if you were alone."

"Alright smarty pants, let's go before you start analyzing. They're waiting for us!" Ashido grabbed onto Yaoyorozu and dragged her along, "We don't want to be late!"

* * *

Bakugo glowered as he waited for all of his classmates to arrive. Why did girls have to take forever to get dressed?

They arrived slowly and in groups. The only one walking alone was Hikari. Her costume gave him pause. A lot of its elements looked similar to his own, much to his surprise. And hers was white instead of the black he had chosen. As she got closer, he could see the steel guards on her waist, shoulders, and arms. She looked surprisingly...good.

His heartbeat sped up.

That made him angry, even as she came to stand next to him and complimented his own costume. She leaned in, examining his gauntlets.

"What's with the holes in your shirt?" he sneered, wanting her to get out of his space, "Want it to look like you've already been beaten?"

Hikari simply smiled, "Something like that I suppose."

All Might gushed over them in his own All Might way. Since she had spent some time with him before school started, she could see right through him. What a softie.

She fidgeted nervously as he explained the combat training. She really needed to be paired with someone offensive and not utility. But since they were drawing lots, it was all so up in the air.

"Okay so who has the letter B," she mumbled to herself.

"Looks like it's you and me."

"Shit! Shoto I swear to God, stop sneaking up on me!"

Todoroki hummed for a moment and replied, "No."

With a glare that would make Bakugo proud, she admitted, "Well I'm glad to be paired with you. I was worried."

He looked down at her, "Yes I do suppose that your quirk is not very conducive to this style of training."

Eyes downcast, she nodded in agreement, "It really isn't."

All Might herded them to the monitoring room as the first two teams prepared for their upcoming combat.

Hikari watched silently near the back away from everyone else, chewing on her bottom lip. She winced every time they hurt each other, but what really hurt her heart was the look of utter contempt on Bakugo's face. She completely tuned out the others, watching Midoriya and Bakugo's fight with wide eyes. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she watched the explosive boy hunt for Midoriya.

Bakugo's gauntlet blinked red so quickly that Hikari thought she imagined it at first.

"Young Bakugo, don't do it! You'll kill him!"

Hikari couldn't hear Bakugo's verbal response. Her anxiety and panic spiked when she saw him release the biggest explosion she had ever seen.

Multiple things happened at once. Her immediate reaction was to check on the health of her lifelong friends. Midoriya was banged up a bit but fine. Bakugo's ears had massive damage that she instinctively transferred to herself, not realizing that her ears were still healing from yesterday. She didn't have to, but she wanted to. Even though he genetically could handle the damage for a while, she knew what the constant injury could do. And she wouldn't allow it.

The resulting explosion that shook the monitoring room had already caused her ears to ring. Taking on Bakugo's injury caused unbearable pain to shoot through her. Her ears started bleeding sluggishly, dripping down her neck. Thankfully, because she was behind everyone, no one noticed the state she was in. In fact, she was so distracted by watching the fight that she didn't even notice how deafened her hearing was.

Hikari had to hold tightly onto the instinct to heal Midoriya as he collapsed. He had made her promise not to heal him from his injuries that resulted from using One for All. It would be too suspicious. She had tentatively agreed, only if Recovery Girl was available to heal him. Midoriya had agreed to her terms.

She didn't notice right away when the combatants, sans Midoriya, returned to the room. Hikari had just noticed the damage she had taken to her ears. It was the most severe injury she ever had in her ears and she knew it would take days, maybe even weeks to heal them properly.

Taking the time that the others reviewed the exercise, Hikari cleaned up the blood from her ears. They were still bleeding, but lightly enough that she was fairly certain no one would notice. Her movement caught All Might's eye as he lectured. The hero gave her a look but said nothing to her.

Her battle was up next, so she didn't have time to check on Bakugo. Hikari hoped he was ok.

* * *

Examining the building before her, Hikari and Todoroki stepped inside. She was fairly useless here and could feel that thought pressing down on her.

With a side glance, Todoroki stepped in front of her, "For your own safety, go outside."

"Alright, Shoto. Be careful. We're linked if you need me."

She watched from outside as the entire building went up in ice. Hearing All Might declare their victory, the building slowly started steaming as the ice melted away. Hikari tilted her head. So Todoroki had fire as well as ice as his quirk. That was fascinating. Midoriya would have a meltdown if he knew he missed something so cool.

During their review, Todoroki got MVP unsurprisingly. She left him to be congratulated by their classmates as the next group prepared.

"Katsuki," she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Even before he snapped at her, Hikari knew he would never tell her. She had a feeling that his pride in his quirk was starting to crumble. As much as she wanted to reassure him, the healer knew that it was good for him. He couldn't live in such a prideful state all the time. So she kept her praise to herself for another time. Bakugo would always be powerful to her.

"Back off Hikari!"

"Sorry," she gave him a small smile, unconsciously rubbing an ear to try to restore some hearing. The movement drew his eye momentarily but he rolled his eyes and returned his gaze to staring unseeingly ahead.

Hikari was glad that the damage wasn't so noticeable.

* * *

"Excellent first day of training all around!" All Might praised them, "I had better go check on how young Midoriya is doing."

"And young Anezaki."

Hikari straightened up.

"Come see me before you leave for the day. I'll be waiting! Now watch how a hero exits...like he's got somewhere to be!"

"What was that about?" Todoroki asked as they walked back to the lockers.

She shrugged. She was fairly certain that All Might wanted to discuss her injury in the monitor room, but Hikari would never tell anyone else her theory to anyone.

"He probably wants to give me some pointers since I really didn't do anything in the exercise," she replied with a dry laugh.

Todoroki frowned, "That's not very fair."

"Well hero work isn't fair. And it could really be anything. I had better hurry so I'm not keeping him waiting."

With a wave to Todoroki and a concerned glance at Bakugo, Hikari hustled to the girls locker room to change. After she was back in the school uniform, she made her way to the nurse's office.

Hikari waited patiently outside until All Might finally came out in his true form.

"Ah, young Anezaki, come and walk with me."

"Sure."

As they took a slow, roundabout walk to the teacher's lounge, All Might examined the teenager next to him. Finally he sighed and started, "What happened in the monitor room during young Bakugo and young Midoriya's fight?"

She had meant to brush him off, truly. But no one at this school knew the inner workings of her quirk besides Midoriya and All Might. The facts spilled out of her before she could stop them.

"You hurt yourself so badly for your friend's wellbeing?"

"You can't stop me from doing it, All Might. Bakugo needs his hearing. He wants to fight villains."

All Might considered her thoughtfully. "He should be more inclined to handle the damage from explosions since it is his quirk."

"He is. But the eventual damage would mute his hearing. I can't wait for it to get to that stage. I have to heal it when I can."

"And young Bakugo does not know what you're doing?"

She rounded on the hero fiercely, blue eyes full of unshed tears, "If you tell him…"

"I won't tell him," he held his hands up placatingly, "But you should."

They walked for a few moments in silence before she spoke again, "I actually had an idea. An earplug of sorts that could sense explosions and activate as they happened. That way his hearing isn't impaired during fights but it protects his ears when he uses his quirk."

"That's not a bad idea," All Might mused, "I'll pass it along to the support team and see what they can do with it."

"Thank you."

"Even if you aren't ready to tell your friends, I must insist that you tell your homeroom teacher," All Might continued as they arrived at the teacher's lounge, "Aizawa is waiting for you in there. I told him it was important."

"I don't…"

"You will," All Might interrupted, "Or I will tell young Bakugo everything."

"That's dirty," she complained, but she pushed the door open anyway. She felt a burst of wind as All Might dashed away, leaving her alone to talk to Aizawa.

Said teacher was waiting, wrapped up in his yellow sleeping bag.

"Get on with it."

* * *

**A/N: And that's a wrap for chapter 2! What do you think? I promise the ear thing gets resolved soon so if it seems overdone I apologize! Please review :)**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: There's no excuse for me being so late besides the holidays. For that I deeply apologize. I reworked this chapter a couple times and am still not fully pleased with the outcome but I can't figure out what exactly it is that I'm not liking. Anyways, please enjoy and sorry again about the delay in posting!**

* * *

It had been a week since Hikari told Aizawa how her healing quirk worked. In her explanation, he had agreed to let her link with him so he could fully understand the inner mechanisms. Brainy heroes were rather predictable.

Aizawa had ordered her to sit out all physical training until her ears were completely healed. It caused Todoroki and Midoriya to question her but she simply shrugged and said that she was only following orders. They didn't seem satisfied with her answer.

Sitting in their homeroom classroom while the rest of her classmates were training outside, Hikari sighed and tapped her pencil on the desk as she examined the math question on the paper in front of her.

She took a moment to massage her temple as she glared at the assignment in question.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hello Katsuki," the girl responded, not looking up from her work, "I'm doing my math homework. Well, I'm trying to at least."

Hikari jumped slightly when Bakugo sat down on her desk.

"No," he leaned forward into her personal space, "I mean why are you here and not training with the rest of us?"

"Oh," she started quietly, "Aizawa deemed me unfit for training because I broke an ankle that is still healing. He told me if I didn't follow his orders that I would regret it."

When she met her explosive friend's eyes, she shivered. He was not convinced, though he did not question her further - the rest of the class was starting to trickle in to retrieve their belongings.

"Was Bakugo bothering you?" Todoroki asked as the blonde slammed down into the seat in front of her.

Hikari smiled at her friend, "No Shoto, Katsuki never bothers me. What is bothering me is this math problem."

"Oh, I can help-"

"Shut up!"

Rolling her eyes at Bakugo and chuckling, she shook her head, "Thanks Shoto but Izuku said he understood this chapter so he'll help me later tonight at home. I'll have to call on your wisdom for a more difficult assignment I think."

"If you're sure then," Todoroki replied, "I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow."

She waved and turned back to her desk. Decidedly, she started packing up her books so she could head home. She and Midoriya had worked out a plan where they walked home together on Tuesdays and Thursdays and he walked with Uraraka and Iida on the other days. Though sometimes it was lonely, it made her friend happy so Hikari was all for it. He deserved a lot of friends.

Since it was Friday she wouldn't see Midoriya until later tonight. Shouldering her backpack, Hikari made her way to the door.

"Tch."

Hearing Bakugo behind her, she scooted to the side to let him out before her. He brushed past her, bumping shoulders as he did.

Well at least it wasn't as hard as he usually did.

A frown tugged at her lips as she slowly made her way to the gate to go home. Looking at the ground as she walked, she nearly ran into her explosive friend.

"What are you still doing here Katsuki?" she asked, tilting her head.

He huffed at her, but answered gruffly, "It's Friday."

She nodded slowly, confused.

"Deku is with his stupid friends." Bakugo said this like it was an explanation but Hikari was still a little confused. The blonde rolled his eyes and started out, "Come on, let's just go home already."

Enlightenment struck her, leaving her speechless for most of the walk. Though she knew Bakugo didn't mind; he enjoyed their comfortable silences as much as she did. Her friend waited to walk home with her because she was alone. The thought brought a soft smile to her face.

"Oi, pay attention."

They had arrived at her house sooner than she realized.

"Thanks for walking with me, Katsuki."

"Whatever."

Straightening up so she could reach his cheek, she planted a peck on it and said, "You'll be a great hero one day."

With that, she disappeared inside her house, missing the fierce blush that spread across Bakugo's face before he scoffed and whirled around to leave.

* * *

"Today's training will be a little different. You'll have three instructors. Me, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you."

Hikari's shoulders slumped a little. Rescue training. Something else that she would be practically useless for since it was just a simulation. Her quirk was so specific that she once again would have to rely on others.

As Aizawa herded them to the bus, he stopped Bakugo for a moment and handed him something.

"Here, put this on with your costume."

The blonde examined the earbuds, "What are these?"

"They've been specially developed for you. When your explosions go off, they protect your ears without taking away from your hearing or awareness."

"Why-?"

"It doesn't matter. You'll wear them because I told you to, understand?"

Bakugo tried to meet his teacher's fierce gaze before looking away and nodding. Because Aizawa held him back, he was one of the last boys to get to the bus after changing. The girls were, predictably, last.

"Katsuki, don't step on me!"

Hikari was lying rather haphazardly on the ground, patiently waiting for the bus to arrive. Apparently not all girls took forever to get ready. She frowned up at him, sharp eyes noting the device he wore in his ears. Good. Aizawa had stopped her and let her know that he had given the prototype device to her explosive friend earlier. His ears would be fine and, thus, so would she.

"Why are you always on the ground?" Bakugo muttered, extending a hand to help her up as Iida gave them orders on how to board the bus. Grinning at him, she took his hand and pulled herself up.

"It's comfy!"

"Ugh."

The two of them ended up sitting next to each other on the bus with Todoroki behind them. She was pleasantly surprised that she'd be able to chat with both of her friends during the ride.

Hikari offered Bakugo the window seat which he took without a word. She knew how he liked sitting next to the window on trips.

She listened casually to her classmates scold Iida about being too high strung. Scrolling through her phone, Hikari leaned her head on Bakugo's shoulder. She felt him tense then relax slightly, letting her stay where she was.

"You look comfortable," Todoroki observed from behind them.

Hikari felt the ripple of muscle as Bakugo prepared to engage, but she beat him to an answer, "I am, thanks for noticing."

Her comfortable position didn't last long. Their classmates couldn't resist poking fun at Bakugo. She sighed, rubbing where he accidentally caught her forehead with an elbow when he jumped up. "Idiot," she muttered, earning a glare when he heard her. His gaze softened ever so slightly when he saw her, but another insult had him yelling at Kaminari.

"We're here. Stop messing around."

Hikari exited the bus with Bakugo and Todoroki behind her. She was mildly surprised to see the rescue hero Thirteen waiting to greet them. It made sense when she thought about it. Who better to supervise rescue mission exercises than an experienced rescue hero like Thirteen.

The USJ was amazing. The variety of disaster areas made Hikari extremely nervous. How on earth were they going to decide teams?

Despite her nerves, Hikari could admit that Thirteen's speech was inspiring. Her quirk had unique applications but that didn't make her any less of a hero. Training would just be harder for her and heroes should never shirk from work. Surely Thirteen had trouble using her quirk in training exercises when she was younger too?

Aizawa interrupted the cheers after her speech, "Right, now that that's over…"

He trailed off as the lights sparked above them. Hikari left her spot at Bakugo's side to push her way next to Midoriya and Uraraka.

"Stay together and don't move!" Aizawa said sharply, startling most of them, "Thirteen protect the students."

A shiver ran down her spine. The man that just stepped through the warp was terrifying. She felt Midoriya step forward from her side.

"Stay back!" Aizawa snapped as he put his goggles in place, "This is real. Those are villains."

Hikari couldn't stop her hands from trembling as she listened to the villains complain. That man...he was insane. They were in a lot of danger.

"Thirteen, why aren't the alarms going off?" Yaoyorozu asked with concern. Thirteen's response was lost to Hikari as a wide variety of thoughts and ideas ran through her head. While she didn't have the analytical skill of her green haired friend, Hikari could still run through scenarios at a surprisingly fast pace. Probably a side effect of being friends with Midoriya for so long.

"Is the entire campus under attack?" Todoroki contemplated, eyeing the group below them, "Or is this their only target?"

"Thirteen, get them out of here. And alert the main campus," Aizawa moved to stand in front of them.

Before Midoriya could protest- she could sense it in his stance- Hikari stepped up, "Let me stay. You need me here."

To her classmates' surprise, the erasure hero considered her for a brief moment before shaking his head, "No. You need to leave with the rest. Your range…"

"My range for you is nothing like Katsuki's and Izuku's," she argued, "Let me stay."

"I said no. Bakugo, Midoriya. Make sure she leaves. Kaminari, see if you can use your quirk to contact the school."

Bakugo grabbed her arm and pulled her close to his side, "Stop arguing with the teacher."

"Pot calling the kettle black," she muttered, but let him drag her along between him and Kirishima. When the redhead heard her, he laughed, "She has a good point."

"Shut up!"

They ran towards the exit, led by Thirteen. Hikari looked back at their teacher constantly, keeping a firm grip on their link in the back of her mind. Maybe if she focused, she could extend the range.

Bakugo grabbed her arm and yanked her back towards him when the warp villain appeared, cutting of their escape. His quirk shifted and moved around him ominously as he introduced the League of Villains.

"Where is All Might? He was supposed to be here."

"Katsuki! Kirishima! No!" She took a step forward as her friends leapt towards the villain.

The acrid smoke from Bakugo's explosion surrounded them for the briefest moment but, as it dissipated, it was clear to see that the warp villain was physically unharmed.

"You three! Get out of the way, right now!"

Thirteen's command had them trying to scramble back; Hikari noted her quirk was prepped. They weren't fast enough.

As the warp villain's quirk enveloped them, she heard him chuckle, "I'll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades, and your deaths!"

Bakugo desperately grabbed Hikari's hand and pulled her flush against his side as the quirk washed over them, ripping them away from their teammates.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the "cliffhanger"! I mean surely you know what happens next but you knoooowwww. I suppose it is still a cliffy and I apologize for that ;) Next chapter should be up next week hopefully! (pending disasters of course). Please review and let me know what you think! I'm still fairly new to writing in this fandom so I'm counting on yall to tell me how I am doing! 3**


End file.
